Northville Nets 3rd-Straight Team Title, Griswold Rides Fast Start to Medalist Honor
By
Tom Lang
Special for MHSAA.com
October 17, 2026
BATTLE CREEK – For the Northville Mustangs, it seems like a case of rinse and repeat.
Northville won its third consecutive Lower Peninsula Division 1 girls golf championship this weekend at Bedford Valley. Three Mustangs tied for 11th place to lead the way – McKenzie Stevens, Naaz Gill and Cam Baker, all with two-day scores of 156.
This year’s team title was not the only repeat, however, as the same three golfers (plus a fourth who has since graduated) tied each other for eighth place in 2024 while leading Northville to the first of the three consecutive titles.
“We’re all usually within 2-to-3 stokes of each other,” said Gill, the lineup’s lone senior. “I think we all play the same game, and we like to help each other out. It’s funny, but it makes some sense.
“Our consistency and the stability that we have was what went right this weekend,” Gill added. “Even if we have one bad hole, we’re able to hold on and not blow up; just stay stable throughout. One bad hole doesn’t dictate our round.”
As for feeling extra pressure or instead using it as motivation to earn a third-straight title, Gill said: “It is a motivator, just to keep things going. And not just to win the title but for all of us to play our game that we like.”
Northville finished at 312-319-631 for an 18-shot margin over runner-up Macomb Dakota (330-319-649). Third was Portage Central (whose leader Olivia Griswold earned medalist) at 320-346-666 to place six strokes better than Okemos (337-335-672) in fourth. Rochester Adams (333-342-675) rounded out the top five.
Griswold blitzed the field in the opening round with a 5-under 67, making it very difficult to be caught. She added a 74 on day two for an overall 141 at 3-under par. Duo runners-up Saisha Patil of Okemos and Hannah Kim of Troy came in seven strokes back at 148 each. That pair were in fourth place to start the day.
“I wasn’t taking as many risks today (Saturday), just kind of staying patient, letting my game do what it does,” Griswold said shortly before being handed the medalist trophy. “I wasn’t worried about making mistakes. In the first round my putting was really good. I only had 29 putts. My wedges were also really tight, which helped me get so few putts. Overall, it was really solid. Didn’t make many mistakes.
“I’ve played here so many times. I was really, really happy that states was playing here (at Bedford Valley). We have lots of conference matches, and I’ve played some summer events here too.”
Regarding the team’s third-place showing, Griswold added: “We’ve been in sixth place the last couple of years, and that’s about where we were projected to be this year, so I’m so proud of everyone for staying in it and playing some of their best golf of the year, especially in the first round. We didn’t expect to be top three, so super proud of everyone.
“I’m happy with his win because starting with Regionals the last couple of years I haven’t done great, and haven’t been all that good at states,” Griswold said about a 21st-place finish last year and 19th in 2024. “So, I worked really, really hard this entire summer and changed a bunch of stuff with my swing. I had a lot of ups and downs this summer, but really felt at the peak of my game the last couple weeks. So, getting to perform well at Regionals and here at states was something I haven’t done well before, felt really good this time.”
Like any competitor, Kim wanted to seal a victory in her first Final as a freshman but knew Griswold’s huge first-round lead was insurmountable in most cases.
“My putting was a big improvement from yesterday,” Kim said. “It was the biggest factor that led me to score this good today (even-par 72). “Even if I had shot really good, it was going to be hard to catch her. I got a hole-in-one this year … so I’m happy. It’s not easy to play well here.”
(Photos by High School Sports Scene.)
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Field Hockey Debut, Tennis Finals Change Among Most Notable as Fall Practices Set to Begin
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 8, 2025
The addition of girls field hockey as a sponsored postseason championship sport and a revised schedule for Lower Peninsula Boys Tennis Finals are the most significant changes to fall sports as practices are set to begin Monday, Aug. 11, for an anticipated 100,000 high school athletes at Michigan High School Athletic Association member schools.
The fall season includes the most played sports for both boys and girls; 36,210 football players and 19,679 girls volleyball players competed during the Fall 2024 season. Teams in those sports will be joined by competitors in girls and boys cross country, field hockey, Lower Peninsula girls golf, boys soccer, Lower Peninsula girls swimming & diving, Upper Peninsula girls tennis and Lower Peninsula boys tennis in beginning practice next week. Competition begins Aug. 15 for cross country, field hockey, golf, soccer and tennis, Aug. 20 for swimming & diving and volleyball, and Aug. 28 for varsity football.
Field hockey is one of two sports set to make its debut with MHSAA sponsorship during the 2025-26 school year; boys volleyball will play its first season with MHSAA sponsorship in the spring.
There are 37 varsity teams expected to play during the inaugural field hockey season. There will be one playoff division, with the first MHSAA Regionals in this sport beginning Oct. 8 and the first championship awarded Oct. 25.
To conclude their season, Lower Peninsula boys tennis teams will begin a pilot program showcasing Finals for all four divisions at the same location – Midland Tennis Center – over a two-week period. Division 4 will begin play with its two-day event Oct. 15-16, followed by Division 1 on Oct. 17-18, Division 2 on Oct. 22-23 and Division 3 played Oct. 24-25.
Also in Lower Peninsula boys tennis, and girls in the spring, a Finals qualification change will allow for teams that finish third at their Regionals to advance to the season-ending tournament as well, but only in postseason divisions where there are six Regionals – which will be all four boys divisions this fall.
The 11-Player Football Finals at Ford Field will be played this fall over a three-day period, with Division 8, 4, 6 and 2 games on Friday, Nov. 28, and Division 7, 3, 5 and 1 games played Sunday, Nov. 30, to accommodate Michigan State’s game against Maryland on Nov. 29 at Ford Field.
Two more changes affecting football playoffs will be noticeable this fall. For the first time, 8-Player Semifinals will be played at neutral sites; previously the team with the highest playoff-point average continued to host during that round. Also, teams that forfeit games will no longer receive playoff-point average strength-of-schedule bonus points from those opponents to which they forfeited.
A pair of changes in boys soccer this fall will address sportsmanship. The first allows game officials to take action against a team’s head coach in addition to any cautions or ejections issues to players and personnel in that team’s bench area – making the head coach more accountable for behavior on the sideline. The second change allows for only the team captain to speak with an official during the breaks between periods (halftime and during overtime), unless another coach, player, etc., is summoned by the official – with the penalty a yellow card to the offending individual.
A few more game-action rules changes will be quickly noticeable to participants and spectators.
- In volleyball, multiple contacts by one player attempting to play the ball will now be allowed on second contact if the next contact is by a teammate on the same side of the net.
- In swimming & diving, backstroke ledges will be permitted in pools that maintain a 6-foot water depth. If used in competition, identical ledges must be provided by the host team for all lanes, although individual swimmers are not required to use them.
- Also in swimming & diving – during relay exchanges – second, third and fourth swimmers must have one foot stationary at the front edge of the deck. The remainder of their bodies may be in motion prior to the finish of the incoming swimmer.
- In football, when a forward fumble goes out of bounds, the ball will now be spotted where the fumble occurred instead of where the ball crossed the sideline.
The 2025 Fall campaign culminates with postseason tournaments beginning with the Upper Peninsula Girls Tennis Finals during the week of Sept. 29 and wrapping up with the 11-Player Football Finals on Nov. 28 and 30. Here is a complete list of fall tournament dates:
Cross Country
U.P. Finals – Oct. 18
L.P. Regionals – Oct. 24 or 25
L.P. Finals – Nov. 1
Field Hockey
Regionals – Oct. 8-21
Semifinals – Oct. 22 or 23
Final – Oct. 25
11-Player Football
Selection Sunday – Oct. 26
District Semifinals – Oct. 31 or Nov. 1
District Finals – Nov. 7 or 8
Regional Finals – Nov. 14 or 15
Semifinals – Nov. 22
Finals – Nov. 28 and 30
8-Player Football
Selection Sunday – Oct. 26
Regional Semifinals – Oct. 31 or Nov. 1
Regional Finals – Nov. 7 or 8
Semifinals – Nov. 15
Finals – Nov. 22
L.P. Girls Golf
Regionals – Oct. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or 11
Finals – Oct. 17-18
Boys Soccer
Districts – Oct. 8-18
Regionals – Oct. 21-25
Semifinals – Oct. 29
Finals – Nov. 1
L.P. Girls Swimming & Diving
Diving Regionals – Nov. 13
Swimming/Diving Finals – Nov. 21-22
Tennis
U.P. Girls Finals – Oct. 1, 2, 3, or 4
L.P. Boys Regionals – Oct. 8, 9, 10, or 11
L.P. Boys Finals – Oct. 15-16 (Division 4), Oct. 17-18 (Division 1), Oct 22-23 (Division 2), and Oct. 24-25 (Division 3)
Girls Volleyball
Districts – Nov. 3-8
Regionals – Nov. 11 & 13
Quarterfinals – Nov. 18
Semifinals – Nov. 20-21
Finals – Nov. 22
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.